Kushiel's Avatar (Kushiel's Legacy) by Jacqueline Carey Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Kushiel's Avatar (Kushiel's Legacy)
Book Review: The best (and darkest) of them all
Summary: 5 Stars
Be warned, there is darker sex in this one. It is the best of them all, but it may be more difficult to read for the more sensitive of her readers.
Phedre and her ever-present Cassiline consort Jocelin, set out to find Melissandre's abducted son, and end up in the forbidden land of Drujan, where Phedre confronts absolute evil, that risks to destroy, not only her life, but her relationship with Jocelin; not satisfied with saving the world, she then sets out to save Hyacinthe, and finds the hidden name of God in the process.
I can't wait for her next book. Ms. Carey is arguably one of the best new writers in the fantasy fiction genre. It is unbelievable that this three books are her first!
Book Review: Deeper, more intense than before.
Summary: 5 Stars
The magic in this book, as in the other two, is subtle but has powerful manifestations. The book starts a little slow, yet is the darkest one of the thrilogy. It also shows the evolution of the characters, and it is easy to notice the ways in which they have grown.I like how all the pieces fit. I was delighted to see how the villains have reasons for their behaviour, and there is not absolute goodness or evilry in the story, which is mostly about a woman struggling to understand the will of her gods, and help a friend in need. Phedre and her companions are a really interesting lot.
Very good book, with a good ending.
Book Review: Stunning Conclusion.....
Summary: 5 Stars
...However, unlike the first two books of the series, this one takes a little longer to get into. For roughly the first 250 pages of the novel, Phedre goes from place to place, meeting a whole bunch of characters new and old, all very swiftly. This doesn't allow much time for character development, and even reunions with characters not seen for a loooong time (ie Hyacinthe)only take up a few pages. Not Carrey's best style, but all of these meetings prove intrinsic for the rest of the book. And once she gets going, Carrey fully lives up to the promise of the last two books in the series, taking Phedre even farther from home, to ever more exotic places, even as far as the land that "died and lives again." Carrey sends her characters -most notably the unlikely duo of Phedre and Joscelin- to new heights, and plummeting to new depths of despair. Love is tested time and again, until even Phedre begins to question Elua's path. This is a quest to finally free her childhood friend, Hyacinthe, but it will lead them down paths darker than ever, and places more evil than anyone had ever dreamed.
A word of advice: if you haven't read the first two books recently, before attempting this one, you may want to revisit them, or at least have them close at hand. There's a LOT of reference to characters and places that came before, and obviously, you're expected to know what Phedre's referring to, as it doesn't go into much detail. All the same, one you begin this book, it will be impossible to put it down.
An EXCELLENT read.
((BTW, I love how the maps in each book slowly get larger, to show even MORE places!!!! --but I'm just strange..--))
Book Review: Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading the first book in this series -- KUSHIEL'S DART, which was incredible -- I wondered if Ms. Carey could keep her stories interesting and her characters growing. My estimation of the trilogy fell a little with KUSHIEL'S CHOSEN -- less exciting than the first but still an involving story -- but KUSHIEL'S AVATAR more than proves that Jaqueline Carey is a master. Set a decade after the end of KUSHIEL'S CHOSEN, the book starts off strong with a mysterious letter from Phedre's down-but-never-out adversary, the beautiful and deadly Melisande, quiet in exile these ten years. The adventure begins immediately and doesn't end until the last page, with Phedre on a dangerous double quest: to locate a missing person whose very existence threatens Terre d'Ange, and to find a way to set her childhood best friend free of the geis that will otherwise bind him for eternity.
AVATAR has all the adventure, eroticism, intrigues, and creative twists of DART, with none of CHOSEN's slowness. Joscelin and Phedre have both matured immensely, and the relationship between them is well-drawn and plays almost painfully into the plot. Melisande spends less time as a major player, but her shadow is everywhere, lending the story another layer of mystery. There is also a delightful new character on the scene, whose inclusion adds new depth to Phedre and Joscelin, and who helps to bring the cycle to a satisfactory -- indeed excellent -- close. The only drawback is that there are no more Phedre novels!
Book Review: Also works as a good stand-alone novel.
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the best things I enjoyed about this series was the fact that I did not have to read the previous book as a review before reading the 3rd. Compared to Mr. Jordan, and now, unfortunately Mr. Goodkind, Ms. Carey has allowed me to enjoy a story within a trilogy without tedious explanations or the absolute need to read the previous novels before understanding an iota of what was going on in Phedre's life.So, if you haven't read the other novels in a while, go ahead and pick up Kushiel's Avatar. Granted, you may have to put it down in some spots and regroup before you pick it up again, but it is a wonderful tale that deserves to be read. If you want more backstory, you can re-read the other novels later, at your leisure.